The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Staff in 1965. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence. It was also known as "Room 39," after its room number at the Admiralty.[1]
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The Foreign Intelligence Committee was established in 1882, and renamed the Naval Intelligence Department in 1887. Its first head was Captain William Henry Hall; William Reginald Hall, who was Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) during World War I, was his son.
The NID staff were originally responsible for fleet mobilization and war plans as well as foreign intelligence collection; thus in the beginning there were originally two divisions: (1) intelligence (Foreign) and (2) Mobilization. In 1900 another division, War, was added to deal with issues of strategy and defence, and in 1902 a fourth division, Trade, was created for matters related to the protection of merchant shipping. A coastal defence division was added in 1905 which took over duties related to intelligence on port and coastal defences of foreign powers. The Trade Division was abolished in 1909 in the wake of the Committee of Imperial Defence inquiry into the feud between the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher and former Commander-in-Chief Channel Fleet, Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, when it was discovered that the captain heading the Trade Division had been supplying the latter with confidential information during the inquiry.
In 1910, the NID was shorn of its responsibility for war planning and strategy when the outgoing Fisher created the so-called Navy War Council as a stop-gap remedy to criticisms emanating from the Beresford Inquiry that the Navy needed a naval staff—a role the NID had been in fact fulfilling since at least 1900, if not earlier. After this reorganisation, war planning and strategic matters were transferred to the newly created Naval Mobilisation Department and the NID reverted back to the position it held prior to 1887—an intelligence collection and collation organisation.
The importance of the NID early on was recognized to a degree that by 1902, no issue within the Royal Navy was decided, no matter how trivial, without the NID having its say on the matter.
During World War I the NID was responsible for the Royal Navy's highly successful cryptographic efforts, Room 40.
The NID also initiated the 30th Assault Unit whose role was information gathering, reconnaissance and sabotage. Members of the unit, Ralph Izzard[2] and Patrick Dalzel-Job are acknowledged as inspirations for Ian Fleming (who also worked for the NID) in the creation of his fictional spy, James Bond.
The Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty, produced a series of Geograhical Handbooks from 1917-1922 to provide information for the British Armed Forces.
The Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946 to provide information for the British Armed Forces.
In 1965, the three service intelligence departments were amalgamated in the new Ministry of Defence and the NID and DNI ceased to exist.